Jesús Díaz (1941–2002) was born in Havana and is regarded as one of the most important Cuban writers in exile. He studied at the School of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Havana. In 1966 his book Los años duros won the Casa de las Americas Prize.

After having been a guest of the Berlin Artists’ Programme Jesús Díaz stayed in Europe. He worked as a film director and script writer and taught at the Film Academy in Berlin before he moved to Madrid where he lived and worked in his last years.

Díaz founded the magazine Encuentro, which has meantime become a significant forum for exile literature. He was also awarded a Guggenheim scholarship and received numerous awards for his literary work.

The author portrays Cuba’s society, the hopes and dreams of the generation which lived the days of the revolution and the young people who have grown up afterwards.